For many, Southern California is paradise – and for good reason. Incredible weather year-round, stunning views, and envy-worthy homes are just a few of the benefits of living here. This glamorous, picture-perfect environment becomes so immersive that it’s entirely possible to forget one threat that could consume it all in minutes:
Wildfires.
No one wants to think about wildfires, but avoiding the topic is shortsighted and dangerous. A single wildfire can scorch thousands of acres of land, taking with it hundreds of lives and leaving countless more in upheaval.
The Woolsey fire, which ripped through Los Angeles and Ventura Counties in 2018, caused an estimated $6 billion in damage, including real estate property loss.
And thanks to several environmental factors, including increasing temperatures and outbreaks of pests that kill trees, experts have dubbed wildfires California’s “new normal.”
What’s truly devastating, though, isn’t the financial cost. It’s the lives disrupted, ruined, and lost.
“Everything I have has turned to ash.”
Greg Meneshian stood stunned in front of the remains of his Bell Canyon home. Just hours before, he received a text notification containing a video of the blaze. Now, he found himself asking how he was going to keep his children in their local district without a home.
His daughters struggled to cope with the loss. “Especially my oldest, because all of her memories are gone,” Meneshian said. “I really don’t know what’s next… everything I have has turned to ash.”
“It just doesn’t feel real that it’s all gone.”
Arik Fultz thinks back to the Fultz Ranch near Malibu, which was destroyed in the Woolsey wildfire. Within just a few hours, the fire consumed two barns, two homes, and three trailers, not to mention a collection of personal belongings accumulated over several decades.
He’s grateful that his family and 52 horses survived the blaze. Still, he misses the ranch he and his mother Tricia worked for years to build. “It just doesn’t feel real that it’s all gone.”
These are just a couple of the real-life stories of people whose lives have been permanently changed by a recent wildfire. There are many more… some of which may never be told.
Maybe you can relate to how they feel… and you don’t want it to be your family next time.
You’ve probably already been affected by a wildfire in some way. Maybe you know someone – a neighbor, friend, relative – who experienced the devastation first-hand. You saw them struggle to get “normal” back for a year or longer… only to end up divorced because all the stress ruined their marriage.
Maybe you saw your neighbors outside with hoses and buckets, futilely trying to protect their homes from catching fire.
Maybe you’ve even been through the frustrating process of having soot and ash removed from the inside of your home… and the disruption of being displaced for months on end while your home is being deodorized.
Whatever the case, you can’t shake the idea from your mind that next time, it could be you and your family saying goodbye to home.
Unfortunately, the odds of that happening are increasing, as we saw at the beginning of this article. So what can you do to protect your property?
Don’t be an amateur wildfire “hero.”
It’s amazing how people will spend millions of dollars on a home, and then assume they can protect it against wildfires with a bucket and a garden hose. There are several reasons that make this wildfire “plan” a terrible idea:
- First, doing so requires actually being home, awake, and attentive in sufficient time to soak your property before wildfires reach it.
- Second, the ignition zone (the boundary beyond which your home is in immediate danger) extends 100 feet from the home’s exterior walls in each direction. If there are external buildings on your property, they would extend this zone.
- Third, taking on a wildfire yourself puts you at risk of serious physical harm or even death. In the moment, you might feel like saving your home is worth putting yourself in danger. It doesn’t make sense, though, to risk leaving your family to mourn losing you.
That doesn’t mean that there’s nothing you can do, though. In fact, the most effective thing you can do doesn’t even require you to leave your chair.
There’s a safe, easy way to help protect your home, family, and property against wildfire damage.
The best protection against wildfires starts long before they become an immediate threat.
How? By applying a safe, non-toxic fire-blocking spray on outdoor flammable surfaces in and around your home’s ignition zone.
Phos-Chek is a safe, reliable fire-blocker used by the U.S. Fire Service to protect homes, buildings, and other properties by rendering “fuel” (brush and other highly flammable items) within the home ignition zone inflammable.
You can give yourself peace of mind by applying Phos-Chek to these items within your home’s ignition zone, as well as near any areas emergency responders may need to access:
- Around the perimeter of your home
- Around the perimeter of any detached buildings
- On brush and cut wood.
Once you apply Phos-Chek, it will provide protection for about 6 months or until ½ inch of rain falls.
Let us do the work, so you can get back to life – worry free.
If you’re like most people, you don’t really want to spend your time fighting wildfires… or even preparing for them. That’s why our team of professionals is here to do the hard work for you.
Our technicians will come to your property to conduct a 14-point inspection – we look for all potential wildfire risks and review our findings with you in detail so you know exactly how we can best protect you and your family from upheaval and loss.
If you and our technicians agree, they’ll apply long-lasting Phos-Check fire block to all designated surfaces and create a “defensible space” to minimize the potential for damage.
Finally, we’ll work proactively to help you further reduce risk – clearing away brush and other flammables can dramatically improve your odds of withstanding a wildfire unharmed.
Meanwhile, you can get back to your day, knowing that you’ve taken the right step to protect yourself, your family, and your dreams from being destroyed by wildfires.
Click here to learn more about Allied’s fire preventative Phos-Chek application services and schedule your private consultation and 14-point inspection.
